Locked Memories
by SuperEpicPandas
Summary: 18 years have passed since the events of Angel Beats! Otonashi, who has long since forgotten what happened, is visited by none other than Yuri Nakamura! Her goal: to find everyone from the SSS! How will they find them? Will anybody believe them? Read and find out! BTW: If you want to see any specific character, leave a suggestion along with your review!
1. The Coffee Addict

**Author's Note: ** I noticed that many Angel Beats fanfic writers have written their own idea of what the hell happened after the events of the anime. This is my idea. Don't forget to leave a review! ;)

**Chapter One: Coffee Addict**

A long time ago, a friend of mine told me that everybody was somebody else in a previous life. He also said that a select few can choose to keep one memory from their previous life to take with them before being reborn. I just told him that he's going crazy. However, I keep having dreams about the same people, in the same school. It's almost like they're... Memories.

"Otonashi, are you paying attention?" The teacher snaps his fingers in front of my face, snapping me out of my daydreaming. "Otonashi, you have been daydreaming a lot lately. Is something in your mind?" The teacher asks me. Should I tell him about my dreams? No, he would think I'm stupid or crazy or whatever else.

"No, Ikezawa-Sensei. I'm just tired, is all. I'll probably go get some coffee later on." I lied. To be honest, I'm wide awake. Oh well, I'll probably go get some coffee anyways. "Well then, would you like to answer equation 12 for the class?" The teacher asks me. My eyes mechanically drift over to the equation on the board. Most people would find the equation written on the ever-so-dull whiteboard difficult, but I've studied the whole lesson thoroughly, so it's hardly a struggle to figure it out. "The answer is 0."

* * *

The can falls from the metal grip of the vending machine and lands with a thump. I have had this coffee addiction for as long as I can remember, so I'm at a vending machine daily, particularly this one. Classes have finished for the day, so I am going to the bus stop to get the afternoon bus home. Despite its convenience, I'm the only student that I recognize from my school that takes this bus.

"Psst! Over here!" a voice calls out to me. Startled, I look around. Nobody. I must really be tired, so I take a long sip at my coffee and sit down on a nearby bench. "Damn it Otonashi, use your eyes!" the voice is much louder now, so I can pinpoint its location: the alleyway behind me. I turn around to see a shadowed figure standing there. "Come here!" the voice beckons. It sounds female.

Nobody would trust a random shadow in a shady alleyway, so why should I? "You mean me? I ask. "Who else?" the voice answers. I look around and sure enough, I'm the only one around. "What do you want from me?" I ask. "I want to recreate the SSS!" the voice tells me. "The SSS?" "You don't remember?" "Erm... I don't think so? The name sounds familiar, but I can't place it. Is it one of the high school clubs?" I ask."Well, not really." the voice trails off in thought.

After what felt like an hour, the voice finally spoke again. "I guess I got to jog your memory then." and with that, the figure walked out of the dark alleyway and onto the sidewalk, revealing a face that seems all too familiar. The girl standing before me has magenta hair, and wears the same uniform that my school gives out. I find this strange, since I've never seen her around my school at all. In her hair is a black hairband with a green ribbon tied to the right side. "Did I remind you now or do I have to explain everything?" She asks me with a hint of frustration in her voice.

"You're one of the girls from my dreams... They called you- Gah, what DID they call you!?" I yell out with much more frustration in my voice than she has. "In your dreams? Interesting..." Her voice trails off, as she was trying to engrave it into her mind. "My name is Yuri, but everybody calls me Yurippe."

And with those words, the memories from the afterlife flow into me like a river. Those precious memories of the SSS were locked away in my head for years... But not anymore.

**So... How's that for a cliffhanger? Good? Bad? Anyways, I have a decent idea of how everything will play out for a chapter or two. However, if you leave a suggestion along with your review, I might just take your word for it! NOTE: I just noticed how small this chapter was, so i promise that the next will be much larger! I will hopefully update the next chapter on one week if I do not procrastinate :P**


	2. The Angel

**Author's Note: **I took some of your review suggestions and think they're pretty nice. I tried to make this chapter longer for you guys. I hope you like it! Don't forget to leave a review! BTW if there are any grammar problems you can PM me and I will fix them.

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Angel Beats!, but that is pretty obvious at this point :P**

**Chapter 2: The Angel**

My memories of the Afterlife are back. I remember Yurippe and the SSS, along with Kanade and the Guild. All of these precious memories were locked inside my mind for years, but not anymore.

I stand before Yuri Nakamura, the former leader of the SSS and an old friend of mine. She specifically came to me so that I could be reminded of our adventures in the Afterlife, but why? What could she want with me? She is a natural leader, so I'm sure that she has some sort of plan in mind... doesn't she? "Why're you just standing there, staring at me?" She asks me. Her words snap me out of my trance-like state.

"Yu...ri...ppe..." is all I can manage to utter. Even though she has snapped me out of my trance-like state, I feel as though I have been robbed of my voice. My body feels frozen. I cannot move and I can hardly speak. _Am I in shock?_ I think. My eyes grow wide, and I begin sweating.

"Otonashi, snap out of it!" Yurippe has noticed by now that something is wrong with me, and slaps me right across the face. Thankfully, I am freed from my state of shock. _That's one way to do it, _I think. I reach up to touch the pinkish-red mark on my face, which has begun to sting. "Thanks for that, Yurippe. I don't know what got into me. Oh well, it probably won't happen again."

"It better not. If you're going to keep doing that every time we find someone from the Afterlife, then I might have to ditch you." Yurippe tells me.

"W-wait a second, are you planning to find everybody from the Battlefront!?" I ask, surprised.

"Why the hell did you think I found you in the first place? I need your help to find everybody from the SSS and recreate the group!" She explains.

"Wait a second, why do you want to do that? It's not like we have to stick together in order to keep from getting obliterated like in the Afterlife!"

"You're telling me that you don't want to see all of your friends again!? Is this new reincarnation of you stupider than the last?" She asks me, her voice raised. So she wants to find us again solely because she misses us? She has a point though... Before the SSS, most of our previous lives were depressing. If we could recreate the fun we had together, our lives would be so much happier together.

"...Fine, I'll help you." I finally say.

* * *

During the bus ride home, my thoughts are still a little bit of a mess. I cannot stop thinking about Yuri's plan. How are we going to do it? Well, it HAS been 18 years since we left the Afterlife, so I'm sure that she has had enough time to think of a strategy. The bus passes by the baseball field, the hospital, the mall, a couple of martial arts dojos, and finally a few antique shops in that order before finally arriving at my neighborhood. I step of the bus and proceed to walk home, as I normally do. When I arrive at my house, I take a moment to observe it. It's like any other suburban house you would think of. There are two floors and a one-car garage is next to it, all of which is painted a dark green. The grass is uncut, yet short nonetheless. Behind the house is, as one would predict, the backyard along with a couple of trees. After "admiring" the scenery for about a minute, I walk inside my house and am greeted by my younger sister.

"Welcome home, bro!" She says, like she always does.

"Hey, Hatsune-chan!" I reply. My sister is sitting on the couch in the living room, reading a manga. She is wearing her regular school uniform, so she probably got home shortly before I did. "How was school?" I ask.

"Oh, it was great! We had a quiz today, and I got 100%!" she replies rather enthusiastically. She has always been excited about school, so my family has been relying on her to get a decent-paying job in the future. My future, however, is undecided for me. It must be nice to know what you're going to do in the future... "Bro, are you okay?" she asks.

"Oh,yeah, sorry. I was just thinking, is all." I reply. "When are mom and dad going to return from their business trip? They have been gone for almost a week now."

"Before you got home, I got a call from mom. She says that they will be back in another week. Apparently their boss needs them for something." she explains. _Hmm, this could mean that I have about a week to find everyone from the SSS. _I think. If my parents were here, I doubt that they would have me running around finding people from a world after death. "I see. Anyways, I don't really have much motivation to cook anything special tonight. Are instant noodles alright?" I ask.

"Bro, why are you so lazy? Instant noodles are fine, but mother didn't teach you how to cook for no reason!" she playfully scolds me.

"I know, I know. Don't worry, it's just for tonight." I say while taking a couple of instant noodle cups out of a cupboard in the kitchen. As I prepare the instant noodles, a memory from the Afterlife resurfaces.

_FLASHBACK:_

_"Kanade, can I ask you something?" I ask her._

_"Hm?"_

_"Should we stay here?"  
_

_"Why?"  
_

_"There are going to be more people like the SSS. People who don't know why they're here. They might try to stay here, like Yuri and Hinata. They might have to suffer fighting for their lives for eternity, and someone must help them. But if we stayed, then we could help them. We could teach them that life isn't all that bad. I think.. i think that's why I came here, to fulfill that purpose. Would you.. stay with me? If you stay, I will never get lonely. I may have said this before, but I want to stay with you. I want to be with you forever. Because I... I love you so much, Kanade." Almost immediately after I finish talking, I embrace her in a tight hug. However, Kanade simply says nothing. "Why won't you say anything?" I ask her._

_"Because I don't want to..." She replies._

_"Why not?"_

_"Because if I tell you how I truly feel, I fear that I will vanish."_

_"What?"  
_

_"I came here to say thank you for all you've done."_

_"What do you mean, Kanade?"_

_"My.. my life was extended because of the beautiful heart you gave me." She explains, to my surprise. "Even now, your heart is beating here." She backs out of the hug and places her hand over her chest. "I can still feel it beating right here, in my chest. "My regret was that I was unable to thank the person who gave it to me. I wanted to express my gratitude."_

_"What.. How did you know it was me?" I ask, still dumbfounded._

_"When I stabbed you for the first time, I noticed that you didn't have a heart."_

_"But.. But that alone doesn't" I stopped mid-sentence._

_"You regained all of your memories when you fell asleep on my chest. You were listening to the rhythm of your own heartbeat."  
_

_"No way..." I say. We say nothing for a few moments. Kanade just stares off into space. Soon, however, Kanade turns to me. "So please... Tell me... Repeat what you just said."  
_

_"I-I won't. Kanade... You'll disappear!"  
_

_"Yuzuru.. Please..."  
_

_"I can't- I can't do it!" Tears are welling up in my face now. The very thought of losing her is too much._

_"Yuzuru! Please, let me believe in everything you did! Let me believe that... that life is worth living."_

_I have to summon more courage in my body than ever before. I'm sure that tears are visible in my eyes now, as I stare at Kanade, the girl I love. "Kanade... I love you." I say, embracing her in a hug. "Let's stay together forever!_

_"Yes.. Thank you, Yuzuru."_

_"Let's stay together forever! Okay?"_

_"Okay.. Thank you."_

_My throat is sore. There are tears in my eyes, and my voice is scratchy. "I love you Kanade!" I can't hold back the tears anymore. They fall from my face like rain._

_"Thank you so much!"  
_

_"I love you, Kanade!" I am full-on sobbing at this point._

_"Thank you... For loving me." She says._

_"Please don't pass on, Kanade!" I beg her._

_"Truly and deeply, thank you for giving my life to me" She says. And with that, She disappears in my arms. I can't take it! I just lost the love of my life. I collapse on the ground, absolutely bawling. I desperately reach out in front of me, as if she is somehow still there and I just have to embrace her one more time. However, I soon realize.. She is gone. "Kanade..."_

_**"KANADE!"**_

_End Flashback_

"Kanade!" I yell out, dropping my instant noodles on the floor. "Bro, what's wrong?" Hatsune asks me from the living room. "Oh, um, uh.." I can't tell her about the Afterlife, can I? "Who is Kanade?" She asks me._  
_

"Oh, she's just a.. friend of mine at school. I just remembered something she told me a while back which made me think. Well, I can't really remember what she said specifically, but it had something to do with instant noodles..." I explain. It's a poor excuse, but thankfully Hatsune buys it.

"Oh, ok? For a second there, I thought you had a girlfriend and didn't tell me!" She says jokingly.

Girlfriend? I wish. Right now, I don't even know where she is... Wait a minute, I shouldn't think about her. I don't even know where she is. I have a lot to do tomorrow, so I should probably get to bed as soon as possible. I quickly clean up the noodles on the floor and give the other instant noodle cup to Hatsune and almost run upstairs. "Man, sis, I am beat. Today was tiring, so I'll just skip to bed without dinner! See you tomorrow!" I yell back to her. As I enter my room, I walk to the window and stare out at the sunset. I wonder if any of the SSS members are watching the same sunset that I am?

* * *

I finish off the can of Key Coffee and throw it in a nearby trash can. Right now, I am walking to the bus stop that I normally use. Yesterday, a friend from my past was there: Yuri. Her goal is to find every member from the Afterlife Battlefront and bring us all together. But how will we do that? Hmm...

Humming. I hear humming. Somebody is humming a song... The tune sounds strangely familiar. _That song... I remember some of the lyrics: "Iradachi o doko ni butsukeru ka sagashiteru aida ni owaru hi". That's right! It's the last song that the girl Iwasawa sang before passing on in the Afterlife. There is only one person that I remember that hums the song._ I turn around to find the source of the humming. Among the mildly thick crowd, I spot a short girl with a peach-colored hat on. _How could she know that song? I must find out._ I begin to turn around and walk towards her. _Yuri can wait, can't she? _I spot a glimpse of white hair under her hat. _My god.. Could it be her?_ Soon I find myself running towards her. I grab her shoulder and, before I can turn her body around, feel her tense up. "Eeep!" she screams.

"Creep! Help!" She screams once more and runs off.

"Wait! I need to ask you something! Just hear me out!" I yell back to her and begin chasing her. I continue to chase her for a few blocks before catching up to her at the corner of a 4-way intersection. I grab her shoulder and turn her around. However, I can't get a good look at her face, as she almost immediately slaps me across the face. I put my hands on my knees and stare at the ground, attempting to catch my breath and recover from the slap at the same time. _This isn't the first time that this has happened,_ I think.

"What do you want, creep!?" She asks me.

"Where... Where did you... hear that... song?" I ask, still trying to catch my breath.

"I don't know! The tune just popped up in my head!" She almost yells at me.

"Well, I need to talk to you. I promise that I am not a creep or anything like that." I tell her.

"Humph, fine." She says. Noticing that the anger and cautiousness has disappeared from her voice, I take the chance to look up. I am met by white hair and hazel eyes. She is wearing a light blue blouse and dark green skirt. I can recognize her face from anywhere, now that my memories are back. "Kanade..." I mutter.

"How do you know my name?" She asks me, with the look of cautiousness returning to her face. All I do is let out a deep sigh. "C'mon, I have a lot to tell you if you are going to remember." I say, grabbing her hand and practically dragging her to the nearest cafe.

We enter the cafe and take a seat near a window. As soon as we take a seat, the girl begins to talk. "So, if you're not some creep, then why do you want to talk to me so badly?" She asks.

"I have to explain everything to you, but I'm sure that once I do, you will remember me. At least, I hope you will." I tell her. After we order some coffee from a waitress, I begin to explain everything to her.

"Where should I start? Hmm... We all have our regrets in life. Sometimes we move on, forgetting the regrets we have. However, sometimes our regrets stick with us for the rest of our lives. They stick with us even until death. Those who die with regrets go to a place that we call the Afterlife. Basically, it's a high school in another universe where people, mostly teenagers, can go to fix whatever problem they had when they died. When I arrived in the afterlife, I saw you. We called you Angel."

"'We?'" She asks me.

"The Afterlife Battlefront, or SSS, called you that. It consisted of a bunch of people, including me, who were around our age. Everybody in the SSS died with a heavy regret. Their leader was Yuri Nakamura, or Yurippe. The SSS thought you were an Angel from God who was sent to obliterate them. We organized all kinds of operations against you. As a matter of fact, one time Yuri made us act like total idiots one day because she thought that it would make you lead us to God. Eventually, we found out that you weren't any kind of Angel. Slowly, you became friends with the people in the SSS. We went fishing one day, and you caught the largest fish in the river. However, you somehow created a clone of yourself in the process."

"I _cloned _myself?" She asks, cutting me off.

"Well, you had this program called AngelPlayer. It allowed you to modify your body. For example, you could grow a large dagger out of your wrist or make yourself invincible to most weapons, including guns. One of the skills you had was that you could clone yourself. This clone was more violent than you were. From there, that clone multiplied into more clones, who were just as violent. Eventually, we got every clone to go back into your body, but it gave you a lot of pain. A few days later, you woke up. A few other things happened, and eventually we got everybody to pass on. You and me were the last to move on. It was truly a dramatic moment. Just before you moved on, I confessed that I loved you. In return, you told me that in the life you had before arriving in that world, somebody donated their heart to save your life. You also told me that your regret was that you never got to say 'thank you' to the person who gave you the heart. That 'person' happened to be me. Once you said 'thank you', you... moved on. I never thought that I would see you ever again."

"S-so what y-you're saying is th-that w-we were a c-couple?" She stutters. _Is she ok? It might just be that she has a lot to take in. Anybody would be surprised to know that a total stranger is in love with them._

"Well, I-I guess so..." I tell her. _Could we have been called a couple? Maybe..._ I think. A silence follows between us. A few minutes later, our coffees arrive. While I take a few sips of my coffee here and there, Kanade just sits there, staring at the table. Her eyes are wide, and she is sweating. I reach out to grab her shoulder, only to find that it is very tense. "Hey, are you okay?" I ask her. However, she doesn't reply. _This must be what I looked like when Yuri reminded me of the Afterlife. Should I be worried that she is in this state of shock or happy that I could've gotten her to remember?_ I think. "Come with me, maybe I could get you to a hospital or something." I say to her. I stand up, but she does not do the same thing. She just sits there, staring at the table. "Yuzuru..." She mutters. Did I tell her my name? I don't think I did... Wait a second, then that means-_  
_

Suddenly, Kanade stands up and throws me into a tight embrace. I can barely hear her crying, as her face is buried in my chest. I can feel her tears soaking through my jacket, onto my shirt and skin. We stay like this for what feels like forever. Eventually, however, I can hear her whisper something. It is barely audible, but I can still hear it: "I remember, Yuzuru. I remember everything."

* * *

**Voila! Whew, this chapter came out better than I thought it would. Anyways, I thought that I would make Kanade one of the first to remember just because she is my second favorite female character (Yuri is first and Iwasawa is 3rd but that is irrelevant :P) So be sure to leave a review telling me how you feel about this (much longer) chapter! **

**NOTE: The flashback scene was taken directly from episode 13 of the anime.**_  
_

**Speaking of reviews, I thought I would dedicate the end of each chapter to reply to some of your reviews. I've seen other writers do this before and I think it's a good idea.  
**

**Frosty Sparrow: Your friend is a good person! You think this is perfect? Wow, thanks!**

**Bunnys-n-PenguinsWillRuleEarth: I'm sorry, but I cannot take your suggestion. You see, it's the fact that Yui was paralyzed that she is so energetic about life. However, I might find a way to make Yui less bedridden. I might.. huehuehue..**

**Quincy Unknown: The only reason that the first chapter was short was because it was sort of an introduction. I didn't want Otonashi to have forgotten his memories for too long, so I just got him to remember as fast as I thought logical.**

**I know there are much more reviews, but these few are the only ones I can think of a logical reply to that won't spoil as much.**


	3. The Musician (and the Dancer)

**Author's Note: **This chapter will be told through the eyes of Yurippe. To be honest, I didn't want Otonashi to be the only competent one in the story, which probably would've happened if it was told through his POV alone :P Anyways I hope you like this chapter and don't forget to leave a review!

**Chapter Three: The Musician (And a Dancer)**

Yuri's POV:

As I place the two cans of Key Coffee on the bench and take a seat next to them, I take a moment to think. _What will we do once the SSS is back together? I guess we would just hang out, like normal friends. Speaking of friends, where the hell is Otonashi? He was supposed to be here half an hour ago! He better be here soon or I am going to kick his ass!_ I quickly sit up and look around. Nobody in sight except for a few unfamiliar pedestrians. _Well then, if I kill him I hope he has a regret so he can check up on the events in the Afterlife..._ I sigh and lean as far back in the bench as I can in an attempt to stretch out my back. However, one could only stretch their back so far on a bus bench. Giving up, I decide to place the two cans of coffee on the ground and lay down on the bench. If I close my eyes for just a little bit, I'm sure that Otonashi will eventually come to wake me up if I don't do it on my own, right?

* * *

"Hey Yurippe, wake up."

I am awakened by a familiar voice and a shake on the shoulder. Rubbing my eyes, I look up to find the orange-haired boy that I've been waiting for with his hand on my shoulder. "Quit it already, I'm awake." I mumble sleepily. Looking behind Otonashi, I see the crescent moon in the night sky. _Well, I slept for longer than I thought. I don't think that I'll be able to fall asleep for the rest of the night. Great._ I sit up on the bench and make yet another attempt to stretch out my back, feeling a light popping sensation as I twist myself back and forth. Remembering that he didn't exactly fulfill his promise to me about returning to the bus stop at the same time, my eyes shoot open and I stand up, grabbing Otonashi by his shirt collar.

"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU COME WHEN YOU PROMISED ME?!" I ask, enraged.

"Woah, wait a second, Yuri. I have a great explanation for why I didn't come to the bus stop. Just hear me out!" He replies, slightly nervous.

I lighten my grip. _If it's as good as he claims, then I probably shouldn't strangle him._ "Well, it better be good, Otonashi. Let's hear it."

"You see, I met someone special while on my way here." he explains.

"WHAT!? That's it!? This is NOT the time to be getting involved in romantic relationships! What the hell are you thinking!?"

"Now, now, hear me out. This person is special to both of us."

"What are you talking about? You don't mean that it's-"

"Excuse me, what are you doing Otonashi?" Another voice cuts me off. _Who is that?_ I release Otonashi's shirt collar and look behind him. My eyes grow wide in shock as I see the short figure walking towards us. _It's really her! I never thought that we would find her so quickly..._

"K-Kanade! It's me, Yuri! Don't you remember?" I call out to her. Pushing Otonashi out of the way, I run in her direction. Her eyes lock onto mine and she smiles._ Was I ever this friendly to Kanade? I guess not. Either way, she's a friend and an ally now, and I'm happy to see her._

"Yuri?" She says.

"Yes! It's me, Yuri! Do you remember me?"

"Yes, I remember you. Thanks to Otonashi, I was able to recover all of my past memories." She explains, still smiling.

I look to Otonashi, who was recovering from my push that knocked him on the ground. "Wow, Otonashi, it looks like you DID pulled through for me." I compliment him.

"Gee, thanks. Maybe you could pay me back by not pushing me on my ass next time!" He yells.

"Whatever, the point is that we got three of the Afterlife members back together. Now we must find a base of operations. That was what I wanted to speak to you about."

"Wait, what are you planning to do, Yuri?" Kanade asks me.

"Oh, so Otonashi didn't tell you? Well, let's take a seat on the bench and I'll explain everything to you." I tell her and motion for her to sit on the bench. Once all three of us are seated on the bench, I take the two cans of Key Coffee, which have undoubtedly become cold, and hand one of them to Otonashi before opening the other can and taking a sip. After that, I begin to explain everything to Kanade.

"Since Otonashi got you to remember the Afterlife, I'll just explain my plan. I want to find everybody from the Afterlife, SSS or not, and bring them all together."

"But why would you do that? I don't see a point to it." Kanade asks.

I sigh. "Otonashi asked the same thing. I just want to bring us together because... I miss them." I confess to her. "I've had my memories for as long as I can remember, and I've always wanted to find them. I can't do this alone, but since the two of you are here, I guess we might be able to. After all, anybody would kill to have had friends like we did. Don't you want to see them, too?"

"Even though you considered me as an enemy for a very long time, I, too, want to see them again. But I have another question. How are you going to go about doing this?"

"That's a good question. I have no sure-fire method to find them. The fact that we have three people this early on in my mission is a miracle. For now, we will rely on our memories to find them."

"Wait, what?" Otonashi asks, visibly confused.

"What I mean is that we will remember specific character traits of each SSS member, and look in places that might associate with such interests." I explain.

"Wait a second. What if they live all around the world?" Otonashi asks.

"Not likely. The three of _us_ happened to be reborn in the same area, so I don't think that reincarnation is as complicated as we might've previously thought. However, whether or not they will be human is unknown."

"So there's no guarantee that we will find everybody?" Otonashi seems to be more full of questions than I initially thought.

"Of course not. Ugh, do I have to explain EVERYTHING to you guys?" I ask him, avoiding the question.

"Well, you ARE the leader here. I guess it's part of your job." he replies.

"Not to interrupt, but I think that Yuzuru-sama is right." Kanade says. Otonashi raises an eyebrow at Kanade's "-sama"

"Well, I guess you two are right." I throw my empty can of coffee in a nearby trashcan and stand up. "I'm going to go for a walk. You two lovebirds can go do whatever for now. I need some fresh air." As I walk away, I take a look at the night sky. _I guess God might not be so bad if he gave me a chance to find my friends._ I smile and keep on walking

* * *

The fresh air of the night is refreshing, even though we are in a city. This place isn't even that big, but there are plenty of things in the area that a city has: large buildings, a downtown market, a mid-morning rush hour, and even street performances. _Street performances... Didn't Iwasawa do that kind of thing in her last life? If Otonashi, Kanade, and I were all reborn in the same area, would Iwasawa be reborn in the same area as well? Whatever, Iwasawa can wait. Right now, I must find a suitable area for a base of operations. We can't take the principal's office without being arrested like last time, so our options probably won't include the school._ I sigh and keep walking. My body aches from sleeping on that bench. _I know that I must find a good base of operations, but it's getting pretty late. I may as well head back to my dormroom at school._ I'm about to turn around and head for the dorms, but then I realize that I'm not tired. _Goddamnit, why did I have to fall asleep? Now I have nothing to do all night!_ My sleep has been all over the place lately because I have been too busy trying to juggle school and my mission, so I'm used to it. Still, it frustrates me. I continue walking.

After walking for about ten minutes, I stroll into a part of town that I've never been to. It looks no different than everywhere else in the city, but I just never saw a real reason to visit this area.

"Mugen ni ikitai mugen ni ikiraretara subete kanau." The faint sound of a street performance is heard a few blocks away. I pass by street performances all the time, but most of the performers lacked talent. However, this was different. The girl that was singing in the distance had easily visible talent in both her singing and the acoustic guitar she was playing. She was different from the other street performers. She seemed different not only in talent, but in something else that I couldn't quite place my finger on. I run towards the source of the singing to investigate.

Once I arrive at the source of the music, I see a mildly large crowd standing around what I assume is the singer. The people surrounding the singer make it difficult to actually see her.

Suddenly, I spot a lanky teenager with a red bandana and bleached blond hair dancing among the crowd. Even If I didn't know him, I would've noticed that face anywhere. "TK!" I yell out and run towards him. When I reach him, he shoots a look of confusion at me.

"Woah, dude. Who is this creepy chick and how does she know my name?" He asks, still dancing to the singer's music.

"You mean, you don't recognize me?"

"Just barely, dude. Help to get me with your groove, girl, I have no idea what you're talking about."

I have no time for this. I grab his arm and begin to drag him away. _Whoever is performing can wait until tomorrow. Most of the street performers I see don't change spots too often. __  
_

TK still doesn't recognize me, however, and yanks his arm away. "Woah, creepy vibes comin from this girl, dude! I'm outta here!" He yells out and runs off into an alleyway, disappearing from sight. _Well, I probably led him on to believe that i was kidnapping him or something. No wonder he ran off. _I take a mental note to be less pushy with the former Afterlife members and try to push my way to the front of the crowd, to no avail. Giving up once more, I take a seat on the nearby bench and wait for the street performance to end so that the crowd will scatter.

* * *

Five minutes later, the street performance finally ends and the crowd dissolves. Once everybody is gone, I see the girl with a guitar, who I assume is the street performer, counting the money she got from her performance while sitting on a bench. She has pinkish-red dyed hair which is very roughly cut. Her focused eyes are dark red, which match her hair nicely. She wears the same school uniform that Otonashi and I wear, which makes me wonder why I never saw her at school. Then again, I never saw Otonashi at school until last week. Once she had finished counting her money, she puts her guitar in her case and stands up. Before she walks away, I call out to her. "Hey you! With the guitar!"

"Huh?" She says, turning her head to the side.

"Come here! I want to talk to you!" I yell.

"What to you want?" She asks, walking towards me.

"I just want to talk. There's something that I wanted to ask you for a while now."

"Umm... I-I'm sorry, I'm not like that..." She tells me, blushing.

"Wait, t-that's not what I wanted to t-talk about!" I quickly reply. My face feels hot, so I'm probably blushing as well.

"Huh? Oh, ok! Sorry about that..." She says. "Anyways, what do you want to talk about? By the way, I'm Iwasawa." She walks over and takes a seat next to me, looking out on the street.

"Does the name Girls Dead Monster seem familiar to you?" I ask her. Upon hearing this, she gives me a look that says 'Who are you and how did you know that name?'

"Girls Dead Monster? It's... It's an old name that I see in my dreams. I have a feeling that it's the name that I would give my band if I ever had one. I can see myself in my dreams standing on a stage, performing live in front of hundreds of people with my band. It's strange, though. The people I'm performing with are familiar, but I know that I've never seen them before. I tell myself that they are just future bandmates. Is that right? Do you know? I _need _to know. Please, it's been gnawing at me for such a long time!" She looks at me with pleading eyes. I guess it's my turn to explain things to her.

"Relax, Iwasawa, I can help. These... dreams of the 'future' that you've been having aren't just dreams. They're memories. Do you believe in reincarnation?" I ask.

"Erm, I guess so. But what does that have to do with-" she says before I cut her off.

"I'll get to that part. When you died in your previous life, you had a major regret. That regret isn't important, but it landed your soul in a place called the Afterlife. The name describes it perfectly: A world where dead souls go when they die. It was depicted as a large private school surrounded by woodland. This is probably because only teenage souls with major regrets can access this place. _You, _of course, wandered into the Afterlife when you died with a heavy regret. Eventually, we met and you joined up with my group, called the SSS. The SSS, I mean we, pretty much didn't accept our fates and wanted revenge against God, who gave us such a terrible life beforehand. _You_ created a diversion group to distract any enemies while we did our various operations. Heres the part that you have been remembering in your dreams: Your diversion group was a band called Girls Dead Monster. You were the lead singer and songwriter in the band, among four other members:"

**"Hisako Hakamichi,"** Iwasawa's eyes grew wide.

**"Shiori Sekine," **She began trembling. _This is strange... Didn't Otonashi do the same thing?_

**"Miyuki Irie,"** She started to sweat.

**"And eventually, Yui."** Even though Yui technically wasn't a band member until after she passes on, this caused her to go into a full-blown state of shock. Sweat slid down her face like dripping paint. Her body trembled and shook as if it was having an earthquake. _What should I do? Should I take her to the hospital? Should I slap her like I did to Otonashi? Yeah, I probably should._ I raise my hand in the air, intending to smack some sense into Iwasawa when her eyes roll back into her head and she passes out, collapsing into my chest.

I felt her pulse. _Good, she isn't dead._ With her arm around one shoulder and her guitar case on the other, we begin to walk. I don't know where we will go, but I couldn't leave her there._ Perhaps I can bring her to my dormroom near the school. No, I'll just bring her to the hospital._

* * *

One trip halfway across town later, Iwasawa is still passed out when we reach the hospital in town. As we enter the ER, I attempt to get the attention of the nurse who is reading some book titled "The Ups and Downs of Stem Cell Research." _I'll never understand hospital people._ The nurse doesn't take her mind off the book until we reach the counter, where she drops it on the table with a not-so-loud _thump!_

She says nothing, but looks at Iwasawa, then me, then Iwasawa again before calling a doctor. She motions us towards the nearby chairs, still not saying a single word. Her lack of speech makes me wonder if she is deaf or not.

Eventually, a doctor emerges from the hospital doors and walks over to us. "Hello, I'm Ryou Fujibayshi. Come with me." She introduces herself and motions for us to come over. Unlike most of the doctors I've seen, she is much less impersonal and seems... warm. Her light-purple hair is short, neatly cut and gives off a friendly aura. Her white lab coat is the same as the other doctors' in the hospital, but she seems nice nonetheless.

She brings us through a set of doors and into a room on the right. She lays Iwasawa on the patient's bed and checks her temperature. "She isn't running a fever. Do you know what caused this?" She asks me.

"Erm, no. We were just talking and she passed out." I told her. It was a half-lie. I WAS talking to her, but if I told her about what I was telling Iwasawa, she would think that I'm crazy.

"Hmm, judging by her condition, this may be a rare form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I've only seen it one other time. One guy busted in here with a halberd claiming that he was in another world at one point. We needed 3 men to suppresss him, but eventually he was sedated. We put him in a mental hospital for 6 months." She tells me.

_Halberd? Is she talking about Noda?_ "Excuse me, but what was his name?" I ask her. However, she is too focused in her story to hear me.

"A friend of mine is an extremely smart scientist who has a theory of multiple worlds, so I don't really think he's crazy. He might be special." She says. She looks at me with a curious look, then returns to Iwasawa. "I'm sorry, I get so caught up in this kind of thing sometimes. If you don't feel like listening to my ramblings, you could go wait outside."

"No, it's fine. I'll wait here." I tell her and pull up a nearby chair. I sit down and listen to her stories while she continues to tend to Iwasawa. _Just how many things does she have to do to poor Iwasawa? Imagine how violated she would feel if she were awake._ _I feel tired. I'll just close my eyes for a few minutes..._

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Dr. Fujibayshi wakes me up. I probably fell asleep listening to her various stories about true happiness and multiple worlds. "Excuse me, miss, would you please wake up?" She asks. I yawn and look at Dr. Fujibayshi, who has an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry if I bored you to sleep with my stories. I'll try not to do that if we meet again, ok?" I nod sleepily. "Anyways, I couldn't find anything wrong with her. It seems like a form of PTSD, but I can't be sure. She woke up while you were sleeping, though." After saying this she moves to the side, revealing a smiling Iwasawa. She says nothing, but her warm eyes tell me the one thing that I've wanted to hear ever since I saw her on the street earlier today:

_"I remember, Yuri! I remember it all!"_

**Well, that's another chapter down. Popular demand and my own personal preferences lead me to have Iwasawa be the next person. If you didn't notice, I made a cameo appearence from another work by Key (The people who made Angel Beats!), Clannad. I look forward to seeing your reviews and I wish you all a good day (or night, or afternoon, or- whatever :P)! I thought I would add TK just for comical relief, if you guys thought that was funny at all. Btw the surname I put for Hisako isn't actually her real last name. I just took it from Katawa Shoujo, a visual novel (That's totally free and is pretty awesome for something that doesn't cost anything)**

**Here are my replies to some reviews that I got!**

**wendypang: I hope you're happy about this chapter! Btw was my ep. 13 continuation that well-made? I never thought so...**

**Flappy Bat: That was an alternate ending. In this fanfic, I'm probably going to leave that part out completely.**

**Bunnys-n-PenguinsWillRuleEarth: My story is fun? Not exactly the compliment I expected. As a matter of fact, its better than what I thought since I am a mere fledgling writer xP Thanks!**


	4. The Athlete and the Cripple

**Author's Note:** ERMAHGHERD I'M SO SORRY I PUT THIS OFF FOR SO LONG I LOST MY INTERNET BUT ANYWAYS HERE THIS IS SO LEAVE A REVIEW! Btw I made this chapter my longest yet to make up for lost time!

**Chapter 4: The Athlete and the Cripple**

I am in a dark room.

"Huh? What? Where am I?" I say aloud. However, these words seem to reach nobody's ears but my own. I am alone.

_What's happening? Why am I here?_ I stand up to gather my bearings. This dark room has no lights, and no access to the outside world. Raising my hand in front of me, I find that my vision doesn't go too far. _Now's the time go think of a way out.._. _T__he wall seems to be made of plaster. Perhaps I can punch through it.__ Yeah, I'm sure that I can._ I wind up my fist, intending to put all my strength into this one punch. However, as soon as my hand is about to come into contact with my target, a girl appears before me, making me stop my fist mere centimeters from her face.

This short girl has pink hair reaching down to her waist, and looks at me with a worried expression as if I am supposed to do something I'm not. The weirdest thing about her is that she is wearing a wedding gown while holding a red electric guitar. We briefly share an awkward stare.

"When are you going to wake up? Please do it soon, I want to marry you!" She suddenly says with pleading eyes.

"U-uwaah!?" I explain in surprise.

"Well, Hinata-kun, I'm not going to do it for you. You _promised_ her after all," another voice tells me from behind. I turn around to find its source. What stands before me is a boy about my age. He has orange hair and an expectant look, as if I am an old friend who has to do a favor for him. "Well, Hinata-kun?"

"W-what? I don't even know who either of you are! Stop talking to me as if we're buddies!" Normally, I would handle people like them with a cool smartass attitude, but there's something about this place, and _them,_that just unsettles me. In a way, I think they're right. They _do_ look familiar. However, I can say with a straight face that I have _never_ seen them in my whole life.

I look down, and find that I am wearing a tan suit jacket and dark pants rather than my usual nightwear. A badge on my left shoulder reads "Shinda Sekai Sensen", or "Afterlife War Front" on the outline and "SSS" shown is red lettering in the middle.

"You _do_ know us, Hinata-kun, and it's only a matter of time before you will wake up." The orange-haired boy tells me. He then walks up to me, puts his hand on my shoulder, and smiles. The girl in the wedding gown walks in front of me and stands next to the orange-haired boy. The two of them then slowly fade away, leaving me in the darkness of the room.

"WAIT! I want answers! Who are you? What promise did I make?" I yell at them. Instead of a reply, however, I am met only by silence and darkness. Giving up, I lie on the floor and curl up into a fetal position.

"Please... Come back..."

* * *

"GAH!" I wake up in a fetal position not in a strange foreign dark room, but in my own room in my own bed. _Whew, it was just a dream._ Come to think of it, I have had dreams about the same people for the past few weeks._ Is there some sort of message that I am supposed to get from this? No, there shouldn't be. I don't know those people, and I don't think I'll see any of them any time soon.__ For all I know, they could be totally imaginary._

I get up and look at the clock. It's 4:30. I have about 9 hours before I have to get to baseball practice. _I may as well go for a morning jog and watch the sunrise._ As I put on my usual clothing: A dark shirt under a white hoodie and jeans, I think about my dream. _So what if there is something more to this than just a dream? If I did meet them, that WOULD be awkward, but just think about what else might happen. I don't have any truly close friends other than the guys on my baseball team. If I got friends that were close enough to call family..._

_No. I can't get my hopes up. The family I have now is just fine for me. After all, it IS just a dream._ I finish up putting on my clothes and head downstairs for breakfast.

"Hideaki, you're up early. Did you have one of those dreams again?" My dad tells me as he pours a cup of coffee. My father is Kenji Hinata, your average business corporation CEO. He always leaves for work early in the morning and comes home late. Even so, he and I are pretty close as he still manages to spend time with his family, going to my baseball games and my younger sister's music performances at school on his days off.

"Yeah, I did. It had the same people as yesterday. It's strange, though. Why do I keep having these dreams?" I ask.

"Son, I have something to tell you. Since everyone else in the house is asleep, I may as well do it now. Let's have a man-to-man talk." He tells me and motions me over to the kitchen table. I ignore the coffee that my dad has left on the kitchen counter and follow him to the living room. We both take a seat, and my father immediately starts talking.

"I never told anyone but your mother what I am about to say. After all, it will sound pretty ridiculous. However, I believe that with your circumstances that you will believe me." He takes a sip of his coffee and sets the mug on the table.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"There are plenty of reasons that your mother and I married. One of these reasons is, of course, love. But there is a reason that we fell in love with each other." He explains. "You see, I once had similar dreams to the ones you have. I am in a dark room, surrounded by people who are familiar yet aren't at the same time."

"That does sound strikingly similar..."

"Yes, it indeed does. Among those people was your mother, Rin. At first, I shook off the dreams I had as nothing more than what it was, a dream. However, on my first day at college, I met your mother. Immediately, we knew that we met before. We started hanging out, and eventually fell in love. One day, she brought up the topic of how we knew each other, as the both of us knew that we hadn't met prior to college. She said that she felt stupid for bringing up such a topic, and gave me a strange smile. I had seen her smile before then, but this was different. It made me remember a lot of things. Things that you wouldn't believe."

"What were these things? I promise not to laugh if it's ridiculous." I tell him.

"We had met in a high school. This may not sound unusual, but it was different from anywhere else. People couldn't die here, and things could be made out of sheer clay. I met a bunch of other people my age there, and we concluded that this was some sort of Afterlife. All of us knew that we had died, and that we all had a bad life. After many adventures with our group, I fell in love with a girl there. She was, like in college, your mother. However, I couldn't confess to her before I passed on and was reincarnated as Kenji Hinata. I never knew HOW I passed on, I just did. I remember feeling strangely content with my life there, and then suddenly I just... left. Anyways, that's my story. Do you think it's crazy or what? Is your old man crazy?" He asks me.

"Well, surprisingly not. For some reason, I think that there's some truth to those words. But I guess I will never know how _you_ passed on or why this has happened to us, but I don't think I want to go too far into it. For all I know, this could be total coincidence." I said that with confidence in my voice, but I knew deep down that this isn't true. All I need for the time being is an excuse.

My dad straightens his tie and stands up. "Well, I must go to work now. I will see you at 6:00 pm, okay?"

"Yeah, alright. Well, I gotta go jogging now as well. I think we've both killed enough time talking about weird things like that."

* * *

The air is crisp and cool. It makes me wish that I brought the wool hat that I have back home. I have been lightly jogging for a couple of hours now, but I don't feel too tired. I guess it's just the morning cold that's keeping me awake and energized, or maybe it's because I am a natural athlete. Maybe both, I don't know, Nor do I care. As long as I get to see the sunrise at this time, I feel satisfied.

After jogging for about 30 minutes more, I decide to take a break at one of the benches on a bridge in town. In my opinion, this is one of the best places to see the sunrise and sunset, as the canal that is built under the bridge clears out enough land to expose both the east and the west side of the horizon, making it possible to see both the sunrise and sunset. I sit on the bench and lay back, waiting for the sunrise which will come at any minute. The sky is already a faint orange, and it isn't nearly as dark as when I started jogging.

Here I am, sitting on the bench, all alone._ I wonder if somewhere out there, those people from my dream are waiting for the sunset to rise, just like me. Nah, probably not. They're just figments of my imagination._ This excuse that I keep telling myself is nothing more than that: an excuse. Deep down, I know for a fact that they're out there. I just need to find them. _No! Stop thinking like that! Your life is fine the way it is, you don't need to get it totally confused and messed up!_

What did my father say again? _"We concluded that this was some sort of Afterlife."_ Wait, an Afterlife? Where did I hear that before? C'mon, think...

_Suddenly, I am wearing a tan suit jacket and dark pants rather than my usual nightwear. A badge on my left shoulder reads "Shinda Sekai Sensen", or "Afterlife War Front" on the outline and "SSS" shown is red lettering in the middle._

"RIGHT!" I say aloud as a sort of 'Eureka'. _I saw "Afterlife" on that badge I had on in my dream! Now I know that these aren't just dreams, and that my dad isn't getting crazy in his age. This is real._

The sun slowly rises over the horizon above the canal, engulfing the whole town, including me, in an orange glow. I feel my skin soak up its warmth as if I am a sponge, and heat is water.

_I need to get back home. My mom and sister will worry if I don't get home by the time they make breakfast._

* * *

The sun beats down relentless heat upon the field and everybody present. However, The wind is blowing, which cools me down and adds a little bit of a dramatic I put on the thick plastic helmet and pick up the metal baseball bat that was resting atop the dugout's bench. After seeing that it was my turn to practice batting, I calmly walk out to the home plate and take up a batting stance, remembering my coach's words. _Keep your chin up! Keep your legs bent! Same with your elbows! Keep the bat at shoulder height, but keep your elbows up! Don't lean forward! Keep your weight on your back foot until you swing! Alright, that's good! Make sure that you keep your eye on that damned ball or you WILL MISS!_ These words come from an ex-military man who served 25 years in the American Military before retiring and moving to Japan with his wife. Being that sort of man, the only instances where he isn't yelling is when he is talking to his family, who only shows up at our games. Right now, however, is only practice, so his family is nowhere to be seen.

Remembering his rather loud words, I stare at the ball as if my life depends on it. I keep staring as the pitcher winds up, and remember more words from my coach. _When you swing, shift your weight from your back foot to your front foot! You will never hit the ball very far if you don't do that! It's a key point to batting, so you better remember it! _

The pitcher hurls the ball across home plate._ Now!_ I swing the bat slam it into the baseball with as much force as I could muster. _Yes! A perfect_ _hit!_ The ball flies across the field like a small round bird. I throw the bat to the side and begin running. As I round the corner at 2nd base, an outfielder calls out to everyone else. "Look! The ball is flying out of the park!" He points to the ball, which is indeed flying so high and far that it would probably land somewhere outside the field. I smirk at my amazing hit.

"Oh shit! Look at where it's going to land!" Another player says as I step onto homeplate. As I take off my helmet, I hear the distant sound of glass braking. _I guess that Watase's "Oh Shit" was appropriate for this situation!_ I think to myself._  
_

The ball, which I was so happy about earlier, had flown right through the 2nd floor window of a house right across the street from the baseball field.

"Great, who's going to go apologize?" One player asks.

"I think Hinata should do it." Another player replies.

"Why should I do it? C'mon guys, we're all a team, right? We should do it together!" I reply, throwing my arm around the shoulder of one of my teammates, trying to act friendly to them.

**"JUST GO, HINATA!"** It's as if everybody there has changed their team objective from "baseball" to "yelling at me".

"Alright! Alright! Fine, I'll go." I tell them and run in the direction of the house across the street.

* * *

_Knock. Knock._ I tap on the door of the house with the back of my hand. After waiting for a few moments, a young lady who I assume is in her early 30s opens to door. She has reddish hair that is almost magenta and wears tradition japenese attire. As soon as the door is open, I bow my head to her.

"I'm extremely sorry for hitting that baseball through your window!" I say, expecting to be scolded. Instead, she just chuckles warmly.

'It's alright, dear. Come inside, you can fetch your baseball upstairs." She tell me. I lift my head up and follow her inside.

I follow the woman upstairs to a a hallway. We walk down this hallway until we reach a door on the right, which I presume to be the room that the ball had flown into.

The woman enters the room in question and steps to the side, pointing to a white western-style bed which seems far too out-of-place with the rest of the house. What really catches my eye is what is _on_ the bed.

Staring at me with a smile on her face is a beautiful young girl about my age. She has long pink hair with one strand pointing upwards. The girl wears a white nightgown, which throws me off since its barely past noon. _Is she sick or something? _

"Hi! My name is Yui Satou. What's yours?" She asks me.

"Hey, I'm Hideki Hinata. It's.." I hesitate. "..Nice to meet you" Normally, I have absolutely no problem with attractive women. However, there's something about this girl that throws me off.

"Hey, dummy, if you're trying to say something to me, then just say it!" She seems as old as I am, but acts as if she's a 5th grader.

"I'm not trying to say anything! It's just that... Nevermind." I tell her. Even though I say that, there is something shockingly familiar about her. I feel comfortable around her, as if she's an old childhood friend. Strangely enough, however, I've never met her before in my life. _So... How do I know her?_

"It looks like you two are going to take a while. I'll be downstairs making tea if you need me!" The older woman, who I presume to be this girl's mother, says. She then calmly walks out of the room.

"Nuh-uh, I know you are keeping something from me, so I wanna hear it!" The pinkette exclaims. _If I tell her that she looks familiar, she'd probably call me a stalker or make fun of me. Oh well, I guess there's no escaping that option now._

"God, fine, if you wanna hear it so badly, then I'll tell you!" Usually, I am easily capable of keeping my cool, but there's always something about kids and childish things in general that seem to be my one weakness. "Promise not to laugh or something when I tell you this, alright?"

"I _promise_!" She says in her childish manner. To be honest, it sounds more like she'll debliberately laugh rather than keep her promise, but I continute anyways._  
_

"Well, how should I put this... It just seems like... I've... met... you... before..." I hesitantly tell her. Upon saying this, she doesn't laugh or even smirk. As a matter of fact, she keeps a completely straight face the entire time I said it. After a while, Yui finally breaks the silence.

"I don't really understand why, but I think you're right. You seem familiar to me." She says this in a manner different from the childish, playful tone of voice she usually speaks in. Once again, another awkward silence ensues. After a period of time similar in length to the last one, Yui once again breaks the silence.

"Do you want to hear my past, Hinata?" She asks me.

"Uwah? Are you sure? I mean, we don't really know each other very well, and-" I try to say before she cuts me off.

"I _want_ to tell you, Hinata."

"Erm.. Uhm.. Ah, fine."

"**BUT!** In return, you must tell me _your_ story!" She says._  
_

"WHAT!? Why would I tell you?" I reply. Even as I say this, I know in my heart that I truly do trust her. Why I trust her, however, is beyond me.

"I don't know. I just get the feeling that you would, is all." She says with a partially disappointed look. "Nevermind, you don't need to tell me anything."

"But-" I try to reply, but am once again cut off by the pink-haired girl.

"When I was born, my mother and father always wanted to protect me. Whenever I went outside, it was either my mother or father that would accompany me. They would always tell me to stay close, otherwise I would get hurt. They never let me go to a public school, so I was homeschooled. In other words, my parents refused to leave me alone. Despite their efforts, tragedy still befell us. One day, I was in the car with my parents. It was a rainy day, so the roads were wet. The road that _we_ were on was small, as there were only two lanes; one for either direction. Everything was fine since my dad was a good driver, but something still happened. A car in the other lane had lights that were far too bright. They blinded my father, and caused us to crash. My mother and I survived, but my father didn't make it. A blow to the head shattered his skull, and the broken pieces flew into his brain, killing him instantly. My mother only made it out with minor injuries, but I wasn't as lucky as her. Everything below my knee was caught between two pieces of debris. They had to amputate it. The doctors offered to give me a leg prosthetic, along with 6 months in the hospital to get used to them. However, my mother didn't have the money for the prosthetics nor did she have the mental strength to leave me alone for that long. So she took me home and cared for me to this day." She sighs. "Pretty sad, isn't it?"

As she explains this story to me, I realize how miserable her life has become up until now. She didn't have any friends growing up, lost her father at a young age, and had to have her legs below the knew amputated. Her story makes me want to _help_ her. A girl like her doesn't deserve to have such a terrible life.

I try to think of something to say. But what _should_ I say? I can't relate to it; as a matter of fact, I'm the opposite._ I'm nothing like her, but why do I feel like we have some sort of connection? This is so strange._

As I contemplate this strange phenomenon in my head, a memory of that dark room in my dreams resurfaces.

_Flashback:_

_ I wind up my fist, intending to put all my strength into this one punch. As soon as my hand is about to come into contact with the wall, a girl appears before me. I stop my fist mere centimeters from hitting her face._

_This girl has pink hair reaching down to her waist. She is looking at me with a worried expression, as if I am supposed to do something that I'm not. The weirdest thing about her is that she is wearing a wedding gown while holding a red electric guitar. What this girl says next is truly shocking._

_"When are you going to wake up? Please do it soon, I want to marry you!" She says with pleading eyes._

_End Flashback__  
_

_Oh my god... It's her!_ I mentally exclaim. _But... How? That was just a dream! How could she actually exist!?_

"Hinata, are you okay?" Yui asks. Realizing that I had wrapped my hands around my head and doubled over, I look up.

"Sorry Yui- UWAH!?" The sight before me sends a freezing chill up my spine. Yui, who was unable to walk due to an amputation, was wearing the same white wedding gown that I had seen her with in my dream last night. The red guitar that she was holding was instead leaning on the bed next to her.

I can't move. My eyes are wide open and my mouth is ajar. I attempt to reach out towards Yui, but the very action of lifting my arm sends a strange wave of shock through it, making my muscles feel cold and stiff. I try to walk forwards, only to have the same freezing wave of shock pulse throughout my body, making me feel as if I was frozen in ice. Despite how cold I feel, I find myself sweating. _Is this... this... how... people... with..._ My mind draws a blank and, no matter how hard I try, my attempts to create a complete thought are in vain.

"Hinata! Hinata! Oh my god, Mother! Something's wrong with Hinata!" Yui exclaims.

By the time I hear the door slide open behind me, everything disappears. The walls, the broken window, even Yui and her bed all fade into darkness. My legs lose all of their strength and I fall onto the ground ungracefully. Just before I black out, I use the last of my strength to curl up into a fetal position, ignoring the slightly painful and very cold waves of shock that pulse throughout my body.

And then, there was darkness.

* * *

I wake up once again in the dark room. Normally I'd try to break free. Then the girl in the pink hair would show up, along with the boy with orange hair. They would tell me strange things and then fade away.

But this time, it's different.

Instead of my baseball uniform, I am wearing the same tan uniform with the "SSS: Rebels against a god" badge on it. Standing before me are 13 familiar people. All of the men are wearing the same tan uniform as me, and all the girls are wearing the same white and blue uniform as each other. Among these people are the orange-haired boy and the pink-haired girl.

"Otonashi... Yui..." I manage to utter. Dream or not, I can still barely feel a freezing chill. The orange-haired boy walks up to me with a serious expression.

"You remember now, Hinata?" Otonashi asks. Upon hearing this, I recall every memory of that heaven-like place called the Afterlife. The SSS, Angel, the school; all of these memories which I now hold next to my heart were locked away. However, that's not the case anymore.

"Y-yes, I do." I reply.

Otonashi smiles, his serious expression washing off his face like dirt. "Good. We'll see you later, alright?" He then walks back to the rest of the group. All of them wave goodbye, and they fade into darkness.

"'See you soon?'" I ask.

* * *

I wake up on the floor of Yui's room. The evening sun is shining through the still-shattered window on my left, and Yui's very worried mother is on my right. I feel the cold surface of an ice pack on my forehead. Looking next to her, I see Yui. There is no guitar next to her bed, and she isn't wearing a white wedding gown. _Was I... Hallucinating?_ Smiles of relief wash over both of their faces.

"Oh my god, Hinata-kun, don't scare me like that!" Yui exclaims and wraps herself around me. We stay that way for about a minute before Yui lets go. As she resumes her odd way of sitting with half of her legs, I sit up and remove the ice pack from my forehead._  
_

"T-thank you. I don't know what got into me. I think I just saw something strange, is all." I tell them.

"Oh, dear, it's quite alright. I already called someone to fix the window. Do you want your ball back?" Yui's mother asks.

"Oh, uh, what time is it?" I say.

"It's 6:36. I'm think your practice has ended." Yui replies. "Why?"

"If that's the case, then I think you should keep it." I tell them while standing up. "Thanks again for your hospitality. I will leave now."

As I walk past them and head for the door, Yui tugs at my shirt childishly. I look down at her, and am surprised to find that her eyes are welling up with tears.

"Uwah? Is there something wrong, Yui?" I ask.

"Will you come back, Hinata-kun?" She asks. I notice that she is using _-kun _with my name. I smile at that.

"You know what? I will. I'll come visit you after every practice. Who knows, maybe I'll just come visit when I feel like it." I reply.

It started as once per week. After practice, I would knock on their door and visit Yui in her room. She would always comment on how sweaty I was. Then it became twice a week, then three times a week, then four, then five. Eventually, I visited her almost whenever I had free time. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with her. And apparently, I had a terrible way of hiding it. Yui and her mother soon found out, but were totally OK with me. Most of the time, I would help Yui's mother take care of Yui herself. Eventually, I relieved her of her duties and took care of her whenever I had the chance. I often found myself spending the night at their house, and my folks at home were surprisingly fine with it. However, Yui always seemed just a little bit depressed. She would occasionally just stare out the window with a daydreaming look on her face. I knew that she wanted to walk again, so I began to work a part-time job to raise money for leg prosthetics. It was tough, but I managed. Eventually, I raised enough money to buy these prosthetics, but it was expensive. However, I didn't give them to her right away. I waited 3 weeks until her birthday to give them to her. On that day, words could not describe the joy that we felt. Even though we had the prosthetics, Yui needed to get used to them. The doctor told us that since I chose to bring the prosthetics home rather than bring Yui to the hospital, it would take a few months since there was no proper instructor. Two months later, Yui stood up off her bed all by herself for the first time in over 10 years.

That brings us to now, where I am about to take Yui for her first walk through the park. It doesn't seem like much to the average person, but to Yui and I it's a step forward into the future.

* * *

"_Awww_, Hideaki-kun, why do we have to go on a hot day like this?" Yui complains to me as we arrive at the local park.

"What are you complaining to me for? You were so excited to come here just a few moments ago." I reply.

"But that was _before_ I found out it was going to be _this_ hot today! Waah!" She cries out in pretend agony.

"Look, we'll keep walking for a little while longer. When you feel tired, just tell me and we'll go sit in the shade." I tell her.

And so we continue walking. Yui seems to hold herself upright just fine, at least for the most part. Occasionally, she would stumble and grab onto my sleeve. After about 15 minutes of walking, Yui suddenly groans in a childish manner.

"We've been walking for HOURS, Hideaki-kun! Can we take a break now?" She asks.

"First of all, it's only been 15 minutes. Second of all, fine. We can go sit under that tree over there." I reply and point to a large oak tree in the middle of the park.

"Yay! Come on, Hideaki-kun, you slowpoke!"

"With legs like that, you're really one to talk..."

* * *

Otonashi's POV:

As I sit on the couch at home with Hatsune, I try to watch the baseball game on TV. It features teams from different schools, so I didn't end up developing any interest in it. _Hinata would probably have at least some interest in this. Too bad he isn't here. I wonder where he is. Come to think of it, I wonder where EVERYONE from the SSS that we haven't found are right now._

As I contemplate various other things, some concering the SSS and others not, I take a look outside the window. The sun is high in the sky, shining brightly down upon our town. _Maybe I'll spend some time with Kanade today..._

Before I know it, I am dialing Kanade's phone number. A few moments later, I hear someone on the other line pick up the phone and yawn.

"Hello? This is Kanade Tachibana speaking." A voice says on the other end.

"Kanade, this is Yuzuru. I was wondering if you'd like to go to the park with me today." I ask her.

Instead of getting a reply, I hear a _thump_ on the other end. _Did she drop her phone or something? I didn't think that my offer would startle her that much. Then again, she probably just woke up._

A few moments later, Kanade begins to speak. "Yeah, That sounds like a great idea. I will see you there at 1:00?" She asks.

"Yep, that sounds like a plan. I'll see you there, bye!"

"Bye, Yuzuru." She says, then hangs up. I put my phone down and proceed to get ready for the day.

* * *

I wipe sweat from my brow as Kanade and I arrive at the park. "Man, Kanade, it's really hot today!" I exclaim. After hearing no reply whatsoever, I look over to Kanade. Her eyes seem to be fixated on the park itself. It's your average park, with a mediocre pond and large oak tree in the center.

"Look, the tree." She says.

"What about it?" I ask.

"There's plenty of shade under it."

"So?"

"I want to go sit under it."

"Oh. Alright! Come on." I say.

We walk over to the oak tree and sit down. We just sit there for a while, holding hands. _This is nice,_ I think to myself. Before I know it, Kanade had fallen asleep, still holding my hand. _I guess I could rest for a bit as well._ I lay back and stare at the tree above me, its leaves glowing from the sunlight. The park is surprisingly empty today, so all is quiet except for the faint sounds of the cars in the distance. All is peaceful...

Just as I am about to fall asleep, I hear two rather loud voices in the distance behind me. I look at Kanade, who is still fast asleep. Being unable to sleep due to the noisy couple behind me, I decide to listen in on the coversation. I simply lay back and proceed to eavesdrop.

"... Can we take a break _now?" _A female voice asks.

"First of all, it's only been 15 minutes. Second of all, fine. We can go sit under that tree over there." The male voice replies.

"YAY! Come on, Hideaki-kun, you slowpoke! _Oh crap, they're coming over HERE now! Now I'll never get much rest... Wait a second, did she say "Hideaki"? Could that be... No, that couldn't be. After all, Hideaki is a common name..._

I hear their foosteps approach us. _Well, I guess we'll find out for sure soon enough._

Soon, the two of them sit down on the other side of the tree, preventing me from seeing their faces. As I listen to their smalltalk, I try to remember if the guy sounds anything like Hinata. _Gah, it's no use. It's been so long, I can hardly remember what he sounds like._

Eventually, their conversation dies down and the four of us simply rest under the tree. Soon, the girl's breathing becomes steady and rhythmic, indicating that she fell asleep. I listen to the male's breathing, and guess that he hadn't fallen asleep yet.

Suddenly, the guy speaks up. "Ah, so here we are, man." He says. _Is he talking to me? _As if on cue, the man on the other side of the tree answers my question. "Yes, I am talking to _you,_ Otonashi."

"Eh?" _How does he know my name? Wait, could he be..._

Once again, he answers my question before I even get the chance to say it. "It's me, Hideaki Hinata. Do you remember me yet?" He asks.

"Wait, you already remember? Did you meet Yuri on the way here or something?" I reply.

"Nah, I didn't. But because you said that, I assume that she's in this town?" Hinata asks.

"Yeah. So is Kanade."

"I know. I saw both of you."

"By the way, who's that with you?"

"It's Yui. She doesn't remember yet."

"Oh." I think back to that evening in the baseball field. I remember Yui's last goal and Hinata's proposal. I remember his story about how they would meet, and how he would care for her. I also remember how Yui would be paralyzed, even in her next life.

"Hey Hinata."

"What?"

"Did your story play out as planned?"

He chuckles. "Like clockwork, Otonashi."

"So Yui's paralyzed from the neck down?"

"Luckily, no. Instead, she had her legs below the knee amputated because of an accident. Long story, trust me."

"Oh, ok. Wait, don't they have prosthetics for that kind of thing?"

"They sure do. As a matter of fact, the reason why we're here is because this is Yui's first time in public with her new legs."

"Wow, nice."

As we continue with smalltalk, I fill in Hinata on everything that happened in the past few days. I tell him about Yuri's plan and my meeting with Kanade. I tell him the location of the bench and when to be there.

"Wow, it looks like we have our work cut out for us. So basically, we search for SSS members based on their personal information? Sounds like a pretty bad strategy to me." He says.

"Well, if you can think of anything better, go tell Yuri tomorrow." I tell him.

"But there's one more problem that I see other than our 'battle' strategy."

"Eh?"

"Our base... is a fucking public bench."

"What's so bad about that?"

"A lot of things. First of all, it's public so we never know if any random pedestrians may use it. We wouldn't be able to object if they did. Second of all, I really don't think we can fit everyone on _one_ bench in public. Third of all, you remember how Yuri had a big projection board in the Afterlife? I highly doubt that we would be able to bring one to the bench without attracting attention." Hinata explains.

"Hmm... Like I said, you better go tell Yuri about that. She's the one who could use these pointers." I say. "Just wondering, though, what do you want to do about it?"

Hinata thinks for a second. "I suggest that we rent an apartment and make _that_ our Base of Operations!"

"Rent an apartment... An apartment..." I take a moment to process this. "Wait, an **APARTMENT!?**"

* * *

**UWAAHHHH! This was so frustrating to make! I don't think it's healthy to have gray hairs at my age, but whatevs. Anyways, here is my promised last-section-of-chapter-dedicated-to-replies-to-reviews, or LSCDRR. Man, that's long even for an acronym... Ah whatever.**

**WildGirl404: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. You see, one of my greatest fears as a fanfic writer is if I would be able to replicate their personalities from the anime well enough. Whether I bombed it or did it perfectly, I really want to see your opinion on this chapter. BTW thanks for the Yuzuru pointers**

**masteryoyojoel: I'm... AN INSPIRATION!? Ermahgerd I never knew I was capable of that ;D Thanks!**

**wendypang: Whoops I kinda fucked up on the surname part there, didn't I? I didn't find that when I researched Hisako, but all is said and done at this point. Anyways, thanks for the positive feedback (not just you wendy but ALL OF YOU AMAZEBALLS PEOPLE OUT THERE)**

**IMPORTANT NOTE: Any suggestions given will be considered for chapter SIX, not chapter FIVE, which is next. I have something special planned for chapter five. Even so, leave your suggestions and reviews like always! Seeya later!**


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